Analytical performance of the selective multianalyser Olympus AU 5200

The analytical performance of a selective, automatic multianalyser- the Olympus A U5200 - was tested and assessed for practicability, following ECCLSguidelines. Twenty-two analytes were tested and compared with the Olympus A U5000 analyser. A Hitachi 747 analyser was also included in this survey in order to obtain correlation data for ISE measurements.The imprecision data, expressed as median CV values, were found to be below 2% in series for 21 parameters, and below 3% for 19 paramaters from day to day. Creatinine measured with the kinetic Jaffe method obtained a median CV value of 4% in series, creatine phosphokinase showed the worst imprecision from day to day with a CV of 9%. Slightly better precision values for the majority ofall tests were found on the Olympus AU5200 than on the AU 5000 analyser.The recovery of the assigned values in 32 commercial control sera was between 95% and 105% for 14 tests. Five of the remaining tests yielded recoveries with deviations between 5% and 10%, deviations above 10% showed albumine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and creatine phosphokinase. The accuracy of most test parameters was slightly better on the AU5200 analyser than on the comparison instrument.The range of linearity ofthe tested methods covered the range stated by the manufacturers; and no sample carry-over was detected. Most parameters tested yielded close correlation to those on the comparison instrument. Amylase measurements on both analysers correlate well but are not comparable without data correction due to different test methods. In addition, no drift effects were observed over a period of 9 hours.The ion-selective-electrode unit performed well in terms of throughput, precision and stability over time. The whole system showed good practicability with respect to patient sample and reagent handling, a short training period of technicians, ease of system software, maintenence, a robust barcode reader and a flexible host communication procedure.